Jong – eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival is a tradition in Chinese culture. Called zongzi (or simply jong in Cantonese), it is often served savoury with ingredients such as duck eggs, sticky glutinous rice and nuts (usually peanuts) and wrapped in bamboo leaves. It resembles tamales from Mexico. Since episode 14’s dessert ingredients included sticky rice, dehydrated/freeze-dried oranges, pecans and fennel pollen, I thought zongzi would be the perfect dish.
I’ve actually never made zongzi before. I’ve watched my Hong Kong grandmother (i.e. NOT the one who told me it wasn’t “lady-like” to be in the kitchen) make it once, but my family typically buys them in stores (which I usually can’t eat because most contain peanuts). Anyway, this is a labour-intensive dish which cannot possibly be completed in a Chopped-like time period. According to most websites, it takes more than a day!
The night before you plan to serve it, soak the bamboo leaves, cashews and sticky rice (separately, of course – the amount you use will depend on the number of dumplings you’re going to make). The following day, the leaves can be rinsed and then re-soaked until you plan to cook, so that it doesn’t dry out. The rice should be drained and then mixed with some lemon juice sweetened with honey or maple syrup, mixed with a bit of fennel pollen and set aside. The cashews should be boiled and then mixed with a cup of chocolate chips.
When you are ready to prep the zongzi, fill the bottom with a little bit of the rice/fennel mixture (about a table spoon or two), followed by the oranges (small handful) and the nut/chocolate mixture (half a cup). Top everything up with more rice (half a cup or so) and then close the bamboo leaves. Tie tightly with kitchen string. Your dumplings are now ready to be cooked.
Place the dumplings in a large stockpot and fill it with water – until all the dumplings are submerged. Place the pot on medium to high heat until the water comes to a boil. Then lower the heat and allow the dumplings to simmer for approximately 7-8 hours (at least according to the instructions to a recipe I’m basing this on). Note that there should not be too many bubbles.
Once the dumplings are cooked, it is ready to be served. Since these are sweet, feel free to serve with ice cream or sorbet (mango, especially!), maple syrup or whatever you desire! It’s fusion, after all! 
Image credit: JunAh/Shutterstock
